In the round-up: Sergio Perez is expecting a big step forward at the first race of the 2019 F1 season.
What they say
Perez was asked whether the extra investment the team has received is having a noticeable effect.
Yes and no. Yes because we’re having a massive package upgrade for Melbourne. But no because we are very limited on parts you know as in the past.
So right now we are going to see low mileage from us because we simply are short on parts and we don’t want to risk it too much. But most important for us is to understand what’s going on with the balance, how we are going to make it better, how I can get more comfortable and I think on that regard we did a good step.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Just 90 days to go until this man is back in the cockpit at #Indy500 🇺🇸😀Who’ll be cheering on @alo_oficial on May 26? pic.twitter.com/SfFjxcBQmL
— McLaren Indy (@McLarenIndy) February 25, 2019
One of our new beasts in all its glory, this one is for @luca_ghiotto pic.twitter.com/usb3uxbpI0
— Virtuosi Racing (@VirtuosiRacing) February 25, 2019
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Hamilton wants to create a faster AMG One 'LH Edition' (Top Gear)
"I want to do a special LH Edition. I’ve already spoken to them about it, and they’re considering it. It doesn’t make sense not to do it, considering we’ve won the world championship."
Rahal looking to close gap this season with consistency (IndyCar)
"I don’t care what anybody writes, what anybody thinks, when it comes to race day, we perform better than 99 percent of the people out there."
FIA Formula 2 returns to action qat Jerez de la Frontera (Formula 2)
"Campos Racing will test with signed driver Jack Aitken who took the Sprint Race win at Barcelona last year, and Dorian Boccolacci who did a handful of races last year and will be looking to impress the Spanish team for a drive. MP Motorsport arrive at Jerez with two test drivers: Jordan King who raced with the Dutch team in 2017, and Richard Verschoor."
"Barry Ultahan has near-legendary status at McLaren. As a race team mechanic in the 1980s, he worked on some of the finest racing cars McLaren have ever produced, with drivers including Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Keke Rosberg and Ayrton Senna. At the end of the decade he ‘retired’ from the race team to specialise in gearboxes, working primarily on the test team. Since 1999, he’s been in the gearbox shop – though still appearing in the garage from time to time."
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Comment of the day
Red Bull’s gain with Honda is pain for McLaren. says Ryan:
They have looked pretty decent thus far, I think the big question is going to be how many races the Honda will last between replacements. Should be a fun year of quotes and radio transmissions by Verstappen if they have a fast but unreliable car.
This all makes McLaren look like even more of a joke in all this. I don’t doubt Honda made some dreadful engines in the early years, but I can’t help but feel some of that wasn’t Honda’s fault.
Not to mention if the Honda shows itself to be a solid engine this year, McLaren went from being paid to run an engine, to now having to pay for an engine that might prove to be the worst on the grid again! Oh dear…
Ryan B.
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Happy birthday to Madbikerbob and Mitzi !
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budchekov (@budchekov)
26th February 2019, 1:02
Rupert Keegan… I’d forgotten about the 1979 British Formula One Championship.
Jere (@jerejj)
26th February 2019, 9:57
I couldn’t agree more with the COTD. Perhaps, Mclaren should’ve been a bit more patient with Honda after all. I indeed also think that not all was Honda’s fault in the end even if they admittedly didn’t manage to build a competitive and reliable PU when Mclaren was their exclusive partner. Last season, of course, it was difficult to accurately judge the pure performance of the Honda PU given that only a midfield-level team used it rather than a team big enough to realistically fight for top positions.
Fudge Kobayashi (@)
26th February 2019, 12:54
COTD is spot on but all as not as it seems. Red Bull have a very close relationship with Ilmore and while I have only read bits here and there, it seems they have taken steps to at least broker a consultation between Ilmore and Honda to improve the engine. They’ve really considered the Honda option thoroughly but having them run in the junior team for a year to iron out any nasty surprises.
Combine this with the fact that both operations are based in MK and you can’t help but think RB have been much more proactive in fostering a true partnership (even though they arent officially ‘works’ yet) as opposed to that McLaren documentary where the engines from Honda turned up with holes in the wrong place and McLaren engineers turning the schematics upside down the day before launch having only just seen these issues for the first time!
I think McLaren were content to sit back and hope to receive a product of a good standard whereas Red Bull have been actively contributing to ensuring they receive a good product. Probably because they watched that McLaren documentary. 🤣
Shimks (@shimks)
1st March 2019, 14:13
I know nothing about F2 but I finally want to start following it. So I have two questions…
(1) Where can I watch it? I have F1 TV, which I guess is only F1? I am in Switzerland, so I guess I’m looking for online solutions.
(2) Are all seats taken for 2019? Is there any chance Jamie Chadwick could still get on the grid? If not, are there any “solid rumours” (whatever that means) where she will be racing this year? I’m keen to follow her progress.
Thanks, muffins!